The music game genre of iphone apps has been seriously lacking competition as of late. Fortunately, the last month or so has seen the release of multiple games for your idevice that follow the tried and true formula of tapping to the beat. These games are easy to pick up, hard to perfect, and totally addictive and TapStar epitomises the lot of them!

Not everything at the App Store is a game – the market may be overwhelmingly action-oriented, but there are those who carve unique niches using the iPhone’s hardware to create new markets. Steve Sprang, author of Brushes, is one those. He commandeered the iPhone’s touch screen to create what artist Jorge Colombo has proven with his unique iPhone paintings to be a perfectly functional and portable canvass. Mr. Colombo’s iSketch series is painted on-location around New York and is gaining momentum as both a newly recognised sub-genre of painting and as an innovative use of technology in art. He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions and supply insight into both the static and dynamic nature of art ad the artist.

Coming across a comic book app is a fairly common sight nowadays at the App Store. You have your individually packaged comic apps like Transformers and Terminator, and then there are those that allow you to upload your very own collection to be enjoyed on the go, like Comicstrips Comic Viewer. But what if you’re into a different kind of cartoon or comic strip? You know, the ones that poke fun of politicians and comment on current world events through often humorous illustrations. If editorial cartoons are your cup of tea then, you’re definitely going to want to check out the soon to be released ToonsWare.

One of the first apps I downloaded as OS 2.0 hit up my iPod touch for 10$ was the free iChoose. It is a life-saver at times when I don’t have a coin, a beer coaster, card deck or straw handy. I have chosen dates, places to eat and when to buy milk – all from the sage advice given by this mighty app.

America’s favorite dysfunctional family has finally made it to the iDevice. Sorry Homer and company, but we’re talking about the Griffin family! Fox’s wildly popular animated show now has their official Freakin’ Sweet App! You can watch video clips of some of the wildest Family Guy scenes to ever exist, such as Glen Quagmire asking which of Meg’s friends wants to lose their virginity first. Or how about Tricia Takanawa’s special report on sex with a random guy who turns out to be Quagmire? If video clips are not enough, there are plenty of other features that will keep you chuckling along.

Krapps have an entire webpage dedicated to outing the naughty, crude, sloppy apps and Apple’s misfires. Every once in a while, TMA spots something ‘funny’ at the App Store. This time, that something comes in the shape of Pocket Girls, an app that is probably the most pornographic and blatantly exploitive at the App Store. Downloading Pocket Girls is contingent on several facts: you must own an iDevice, a credit card and you must be 12 years old. These ‘infrequent[ly]‘ sexually aimed pictures depict girls in poses that are only seen in peep shows and pornographic material. Apple have approved it rather quickly without finding much out about the dev, MSHOT, who if anything, are hard on about sexual exploitation. That said, Pocket Girls is the first, and most memorable among App Store soft-core porn apps.

1 November 1974, Hello Kitty was born. For fans of the cute kitten, this is one of those ‘of course’ entries, but to the rest of you, get ready. To celebrate her birthday, AITIA corp. released Hello Kitty 35th Anniversary, an app that came before its time. With the greater part of 5 months left until she hits 36, there simply is not enough good and ‘cute’ hype to carry her to safely to her next birthday.

Some devs are into developing app and some into brainstorming ideas. Then, there are others like TNS, who haven’t had a sober night in months. They blur the lines of spontaneity and stupidity while failing breathalyser tests and pissing on cop’s legs. Iz She Expensive? is off the charts and struggling on the floor in terms of quality and production value. Overconfident poise, however, they have by the bin.

Brushes, an excellent painting app reviewed a couple of weeks ago here at TMA is on a roll. Not content with a simple The New Yorker cover credited to its portfolio, Brushes has made news today in Businessweek as evidence that there is a Mobile App ‘landrush’. Quite true. Be it Apple, RIM or Windows Mobile, the medium of the wireless download has found a new and lucrative anchor in mobile users.

First came Cooking Mama, a game of cooking themed mini games. Now Cooking Star is the newest kid in the kitchen. Cooking star lets you slice and dice your way to being a star chef. If Cooking Mama left you starving for even more savory meal preparation, then Cooking Star will give you food for thought!